Of Love And Other Feelings
by miss.full.of.light
Summary: "Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage." Love is not a vampire's greatest weakness. A collection of Klaus and Caroline's one-shots.
1. Thank You For Loving Me

**Hello everybody!**

**Yes, indeed! These two flawless beings, also known as Klaus and Caroline from The Vampire Diaries, or better yet as my inevitable and imminent cause of death because of feelings overload, got me writing again! This is not going to be a story, but a collection of one-shots, which is going to benefit both me and you because I always end up running out of ideas for multi-chaptered stories in the long run; instead, this way, every chapter will be a story in itself and therefore won't leave anybody disappointed or waiting for a continuation. That said, I'm open to requests, so please please please hit my inbox! But no angst because I don't handle that well to be honest.  
**

**Now, on to the story – this one-shot is set after 4x18, everything we know is after that (aka prom) never happens, the group is getting ready to fight Silas and Klaus realizes Katherine could be useful for something after all. Fluff, I guess. I had this in mind since forever and wanted to write it down. Please keep in mind that ****English is not my first language and I don't have a beta for this, so I'm sorry for any grammar mistake.**

**Enjoy!**

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Klaus was pacing frenetically at the center of his studio, eyes closed and hands clasped behind his back. In his whole existence, he had never experienced a migraine quite like this one before. _I can't believe the guts of his!_, he thought to himself, he still had to grasp his mind around the fact that Elijah had had the courage to bring the Petrova doppelganger into his mansion, begging him to trade her freedom for the cure she had in her possession.

He laughed bitterly. After all these years, Katerina still had his brother wrapped around her manicured, evil, little finger; after all these years, she still held a power so strong over him that he would go behind his own brother's back only to appease her. Klaus scoffed.

A sudden knock at the door startled him, bringing him out of his thoughts, and he swore under his breath.

"The Salvatore brothers are here, Nik," Rebekah informed him from the other side of the wooden door, her tone annoyed. "Stop brooding and come out please, I can't be held responsible for my actions if I'm around the four of them alone."

_Four?_

Klaus zoomed to the door and opened it, using so much strength he almost tore it off its hinges. He raised his eyebrows questioningly, his face stoic. "If you think I'm going to join the love fest around Katerina you are sorely mistaken, little sister." He gritted through his teeth.

Rebekah huffed and rolled her eyes. "Elijah and his little whore are who knows where, the Salvatores are here with the _other_ doppelganger, and with the love of your life," she teased.

The hybrid's face softened for a moment, before he recomposed himself, trying to still look as bothered by the little gang's visit as he was before. "What do they want?" he spat.

"The cure, Silas' whereabouts... I don't know. They will only discuss it with you_._" Rebekah replied indignantly – in her book, she was just as worth as her brother.

Klaus sighed, walking around Rebekah to join his visitors in the spacious living room of the Mikaelson household. The four of them were standing with their backs to him, and he could notice them visibly stiffen as they heard his footsteps approaching. They feared him, good.

"So," he started casually, opening the cabinet near the stairs to get himself something to drink. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

Damon rolled his eyes, his hands on his hips. "Oh please, current evil number two, cut the crap, you know we want the cure."

"_Damon!_" both Stefan and Caroline reproached him at the same time.

Klaus laughed humorlessly, nursing his scotch. "Like I would give it to you lot."

"We came to make a deal," Stefan said, looking over his shoulder at Elena, who was mindlessly pacing around the room. After everything that had happened and that she had put them through shutting off her emotions, they had to take matters into their own hands, which meant locking her in the Boarding House for two weeks, making sure the vervain had completely left her body, and compelling her to not do anything she wasn't told to. It was an harsh decision yes, but they couldn't risk her going around killing other innocent people all over the town, desperate times called for drastic measures. "You give us the cure, we give it to Elena so you don't have to worry about it being used against you, and in return we'll give you some of her blood for your hybrids."

Klaus knitted his eyebrows, drinking some of his scotch. "Ah, dears, I don't care for hybrids anymore," he answered, a smirk playing on his thin lips, turning his head towards them with his eyes trained on Caroline. "I'm sure you can all guess why."

Nobody spoke for some moments, so he cleared his voice and added, still looking only at Caroline. "It was a bit of a failure. That's how you called it, isn't it, love?"

Caroline rolled her eyes at his childish behavior, sighing. "_Please_, Klaus. We won't use it against you, we want it for Elena."

The hybrid shook his head. "If only it were that simple, love. You see, we can't let Silas roam around, you first hand saw what he's capable of doing."

Damon scoffed. "So what, you suggest we should just give him what he wants? Are you nuts?"

Before anybody could retort something else, they all heard the front door opening, and turned their heads to see Elijah entering the house with Katherine trailing behind him.

"What the hell is the she devil doing here?" Caroline half-shouted, rage evident in both her tone and face.

Klaus smiled, all dimples and bright, white, perfect teeth, but his tone sounded somewhat menacing. "_She_'s the one who's got the cure, sweetheart."

Caroline kept glaring at Katherine as she followed Elijah to stand in the middle of the room, right between them and Klaus.

"I'm glad to see you're still alive, offspring," the doppelganger joked, glaring back.

Klaus' eyes widened, and everything clicked. _Katherine had been the one to turn Caroline?_ "_You_ are the one who turned Caroline?"

Katherine looked partially surprised and partially scared that the hybrid was addressing her, and tried to keep her cool, not like there was much else she could do to bargain with him anyway. "The one and only," she smirked. "Although, I suppose technically it was Damon, she had _his_ blood in her system when _I_ killed her."

In an instant, Klaus had her pressed against the wall, his left hand choking her, his eyes yellow and terrifying. He had never really known the exact reasons or facts behind Caroline's transformation but she had let slip once, at the Miss Mystic Falls dance, that it hadn't exactly been her decision. It hadn't been her decision at all, in fact.

"_Klaus_," his brother's warning tone came from behind him, but he couldn't honestly care less in that moment.

Katherine coughed loudly, trying to catch her breath somehow, but finding it impossible as Klaus' grip on her throat was deadly.

He snarled, before letting go of her as she unceremoniously fell to the ground, Elijah immediately at her side.

"What was that?" Elijah, the ever composed one, yelled at his brother while helping Katherine up.

Klaus felt the need to put himself between Caroline and the old doppelganger, not paying the least attention to his brother's question. All he could think about was how much more he hated Katerina now that he knew she had ruined Caroline's life. Sure, he knew Caroline loved being a vampire, that she would never want to be human again, but at the same time, he felt his heart ache: she should have had the _choice_. The same one he didn't have either when hundreds of centuries ago Mikael had forced him and his siblings to turn into monsters, sealing the whole world's fate.

Katherine laughed, still coughing, massaging her sore throat. "Well, that's certainly an interesting development," she shot Klaus and Caroline a meaningful smirk. "I probably deserve my freedom just for giving you the chance to meet her. I mean, little, neurotic, human Caroline would have _never_ survived Mystic Falls. You yourself would have probably been the one to kill her, to drain her dry until she was dead. That would have been kind of ironic, wouldn't it?"

Everyone seemed to have caught up with was going on thanks to Katherine's little speech, and Klaus seemed everything but pleased, his jaw clenched, his stare set menacingly on the doppelganger.

Elijah, who hadn't been in Mystic Fall for relatively a while, seemed baffled, his eyes wide, and his mouth slightly hanging open. If the situation hadn't been so dramatic, he would have probably been quite the funny sight.

Stefan cleared his throat awkwardly. "I don't think this is the moment for–"

"Actually," Klaus interrupted him mid-sentence, a devilish twinkle in his blue-green eyes. "I think this is the perfect moment to talk about it." He said, the perfect plan suddenly forming in his mind. He hated to admit it, because _dammit!_, he was the big bad hybrid, he didn't want to have a weakness, he wasn't supposed to, but all this time, his main concern had been Caroline's safety – how could he ever make sure nothing were to happen to her during the war against Silas? How was he supposed to be able to stay at her side every moment of it, every second, every time he attacked? She was a distraction, she was _his_ distraction. He was never going to focus knowing she was out there fighting, risking her life. He shuddered at the mere thought. No matter how many times she had rejected him, he couldn't imagine a world without her in it, without the possibility of finally winning over her affections, of finally making her fall for him just like he had fallen for her. He didn't _want_ a world or a life without her, it wouldn't have been life.

Everyone in the room was eying him with a mix of curiosity and fear, waiting for him to go on, to say something else, to explain.

"You want your freedom, Katerina?" he asked her, his tone low and persuasive. Everyone's eyes shot wide open, and Katherine's breath caught in her throat. She merely nodded, too afraid to move a single muscle in her body.

"Well then, you are strong, and cunning, and intelligent," he asserted, leaving his spot in front of Caroline to move around Katherine. "And not that you're not all of those things, love," he added quickly looking at Caroline with a smile so genuine and soft that it left everyone in the room bewildered as the blonde, young vampire eyed the hybrid carefully. "But she's older and with much more experience... so, Katerina, keep Caroline safe until Silas will be defeated and then you have my word you won't have to worry about me anymore. You will be free."

The other three men in the room stood unmoving, startled, similar shocked and confused expressions on their never-aging faces. Rebekah, who had joined the group and was leaning against the living room's door frame looked amused, and while Katherine was profusely nodding her head at Klaus, Caroline's gasp echoed through the room, cutting through the almost reverent silence that had fallen upon it.

"_What_?" she shrieked, moving at vampire speed towards Klaus and pushing at his chest with both hands. She was furious, outraged, offended even. "I don't need a freaking babysitter!"

Klaus rolled his eyes with a smirk. "Love, humor me, please. I can't very well stay by your side the whole time, mostly because that would mean staying _home_, away from Silas," he eyed her warily, cutting off her numerous new protests as he continued. "Not to mention, protecting you with my life wouldn't work very well because if I die, you'll die too," he added softly, a series of different, intense emotions flowing through his concerned eyes. "While Katerina _will_ protect you with her own life because she knows that if something were to happen to you, she would die nonetheless," his tone was still soft, but the threat was resounding to Katherine's ears.

"You can't do this to me," she pleaded, her voice strained. "I want to help."

It pained him to hear and see her like this, but he wasn't going to accept it any other way. "You _will_ help this way," he assured her, lifting his hands to her shoulders, trying to soothe her. She was so petite in comparison with him, so fragile, so soft and good, he couldn't even begin to imagine all the horrible things Silas could do to her. "If I knew you were out there risking your life, I would be distracted the whole time, and we all know that I'm our best shot at defeating Silas," he stalled for a moment, looking around the room. Somehow, at one point, the others had decided to leave them alone. "Especially if the cure will go to Elena."

Caroline's eyes widened and Klaus smiled down at her, bringing one of his hands to cup her cheek. "Can't you see I'm doing this all only for you?" he whispered, his eyes locking with hers, searching and finding and reading her very soul, leaving her breathless.

After a few seconds, she nodded. "Okay," she agreed in a small voice. Silence encompassed them again for what felt like forever. "Thank you."

Klaus smiled down at her, his heart warming at having her so close, at having her thank him for something. How could she ever thank him after all the times he had hurt her? "What for, love?"

Caroline sheepishly bit down on her bottom lip, looking everywhere but at him. She moved one of her hands to take hold of Klaus' free one and intertwined their fingers. The gesture was so simple, yet so significant for them that it made Klaus' breath caught in his throat, and his heart swell.

Caroline smiled, finally letting herself look at him again. "For loving me."

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**Reviewers get cookies.  
**


	2. Nik

**Thank you so so much to everyone who reviewed/favorited/followed this story, it means a lot to me and it makes me want to write more and faster to update for you all!**

**In this one-shot, Silas has been been defeated, the Originals decided to stick around Mystic Falls after all, and Klaus and Caroline are still in their friends phase... not for long though. Also known as the first time Caroline calls Klaus 'Nik' and fluff ensues. I suppose it could also be seen as a distant continuation of the previous one-shot. **

**Still un-beta'ed. Enjoy!**

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The calm after the storm was something nobody in Mystic Falls had ever really experienced. The calm _before_ the storm, that one, sure. But not the one after, the real calm, the kind that didn't make you look over your shoulder at every turn in the street.

After successfully giving Elena the cure and yet managing to defeat Silas once and for all, everyone had thought the war against Klaus for the doppelganger's blood would have started again, but the Original had apparently been honest about not feeling any need for new hybrids after all.

It took everyone a couple of months to fully realize and accept that no bigger evil was coming down for them, not yet at least, and eventually things fell in a comfortable routine in which, on different levels, they all were at least nice and civil to one another.

The most surprising friendship that came out of all that mess, was Caroline and Rebekah's. It had always been obvious how much alike, in both qualities and flaws, the two girls were, that was indeed the main reason why they always ended up being at each other's throat, and they could only argue for so much time before they finally took to each other.

After eventually deciding on her own to not take the cure, despite the fact that Bonnie had managed to find a spell that would have made it available to other vampires as well, Rebekah had indeed started to spend a lot of time with Caroline, who, among them all, was the most human, and the most comfortable and accepting of her immortal nature. She was of huge help to the Original female vampire.

The two girls were currently in Rebekah's room, trying on several dresses for the upcoming prom – Rebekah being Rebekah, had dozens of different designer labels' gowns shipped to her from all over the world especially for the occasion, in both hers and Caroline's size.

The young vampire was trying on a silk, cream, mermaid dress, looking over at herself in Rebekah's floor-length mirror.

"Nik would love that on you," the blonde Original teased her with a knowing smirk.

Caroline stiffened and blushed slightly. "_Rebekah_..." she warned, sighing. Her and Klaus were still just friends, nothing more. Yes, she felt intrigued and attracted to him, not to add the fact that it was undeniable how much he had changed in these last few months. _For her_, he always said. But she still couldn't let anything happen between the two of them. She was afraid, afraid that it wouldn't last, and she would rather have the possibility of him than not having him at all. Because everyone left her sooner or later, it was all they ever did.

Rebekah raised her hands in innocence. "Hey, I'm just saying. Although, I don't understand what you two are waiting for."

Caroline closed her eyes and huffed loudly, bringing one of her hands to run through her blonde hair. "You know what it is."

"No, honestly I don't. Are you waiting for some sign from heaven, Caroline? What more do you need to trust him?" the Original protested. Was it really too much to ask for her brother and best friend to finally be happy together?

"I just–I don't know, okay. He's still _Klaus_, and I'm–_me_, and–"

"Do I have to give you the 'he will never leave you' speech again?" Rebekah interrupted her, eying her with a tad of annoyance in her stare, they had had that talk over a million times already, Caroline could really be the most stubborn and headstrong person ever when she wanted to be.

Caroline rolled her eyes, smiling despite herself. "_No_, but I need some time, okay?"

It was Rebekah's turn to roll her eyes. "I think you had enough already, please just put both yourself and my insufferable brother out of your misery, it's getting tiresome to be around the two of you, all lingering stares and stuttering. Ugh. It makes me wanna puke."

This time, Caroline laughed wholeheartedly. "I think you just need to get laid, Bek."

Rebekah glared at her from across the room, putting on some shiny lip gloss.

"Have you asked Matt to the dance, by the way?" Caroline asked, taking off the cream dress to put her own clothes back on.

Rebekah sighed, shaking her head and lying on her bed. "I don't wanna pursue him anymore. I mean, I won't take the cure, I doubt he will ever want to become a vampire, what's the point?"

Caroline smiled sympathetically at her friend, adjusting the zip of her jeans before joining her on the bed and lying at her side. "You will find someone." She assured her, and it was obvious that she wasn't just referring to prom, but to her immortal existence as well – she was going to find someone with whom spend her forever with, she just had to wait a little longer.

The Original nodded her head, a bittersweet smile playing on her lips.

The two girls just lay there for a couple of minutes, in complete silence, looking at the light blue of the ceiling, before a familiar voice startled both of them out of their reveries.

"Girls' time?" an amused, thick accent called from outside the open door.

Both Caroline and Rebekah quickly raised to a sitting position, and the latter threw a fluffy, pink pillow at her brother. "Yes, so go away!"

The girls laughed at the hybrid's shocked face – did they just really throw _a pillow_ at him?

Rebekah lightly elbowed her friend, motioning to another of the pillows on the floor with her head, grinning. Caroline immediately retrieved it from the carpet, and before Klaus could react, another pillow hit him square in the face. "Yes, Nik, go away!" Caroline laughed.

Klaus' head shot up to look at her, his eyes wide open, his heart uncontrollably thumping in his chest regardless of the fact that he had stopped breathing as soon as the words had left her mouth.

Neither of the girls seemed to have caught up with what had happened, not even Rebekah, who was giggling away.

"Did you just call me _Nik_?" he asked in a low, awed tone.

Caroline gasped slightly, her eyes now as wide as his. Her head automatically turned to Rebekah to gauge her reaction, had she just crossed a line she wasn't supposed to cross? It had come so naturally to call him Nik. After all, she was around the Mikaelson household most of the time, and Rebekah and Elijah only ever called him Nik, she was used to hear him being called that, and it just slipped.

Rebekah sensed the shift in the room. The fact that Caroline had just called her brother Nik meant so much more to him than the young vampire would probably ever know. Because while Klaus was the terrifying hybrid he had grown to be to protect himself and the ones he cared about, Nik was his human side, Nik was the side Caroline above all brought out in him. And the fact that she had just used that nickname for him meant that she was inevitably cracking, that she was starting to fall more and more in love with him, it meant that she really_ saw_ him.

"I'll leave you two alone," the Original sister whispered quickly, standing up from the bed to exit her room, closing the door behind her. "No funny business on my bed!" she called from the hallway, making Caroline blush embarrassingly, but effectively breaking some of the tension that had fallen upon the room.

Klaus moved slightly towards her, and Caroline immediately jumped up from the bed, starting to rant. "I'm _so_ sorry, it just slipped, I swear. I wasn't thinking, I know only your family calls you that, and I–"

"Hey," Klaus' soft voice interrupted her, as the hybrid brought both his hands to caress her reddening cheeks. "It's okay. It's more than okay actually. I would love for you to call me Nik."

A sigh of relief escaped Caroline's lips. "Are you sure?"

Klaus smiled, all bright and happy and real, in that special way he reserved for her only. "Of course I am, love."

Caroline gulped, nodding her head. They were so close, and he smelled and felt so good, she wanted to do something, she wanted to lean into him, to hold him, to kiss him. Rebekah was right, hadn't she waited long enough already?

She licked her dry lips, and Klaus' eyes dropped to observe her action. She was so tempting to him, everything she did called him in, made him want to take her right then and there, to mark her as his. The mere thought of any other boy or vampire ever being this close to her made him blind with rage. At the same time, he knew he couldn't be the one to take the first step, she was coming around, she was coming to terms with her feelings for him, he could see it in every interaction they had, in every look or touch they shared, and he didn't want to push her, he was willing to wait forever for her. Quite literally. But that of course didn't mean it wasn't incredibly frustrating at times.

Eventually, the hybrid sighed, letting his hands fall from her face, his head bowed. "Should I call Rebekah back for you?"

Caroline nodded slowly, almost guarded. Why couldn't she bring herself to admit her feelings for him yet? Well, deep down she knew why. All of her previous relationships had been rushed, she dived into them head first because she didn't want to risk losing the boy's interest, because that's how things had always worked for her. She just wasn't worth waiting around for. But with Klaus it was all so different, and it wasn't that she wanted to test his love for her, because she knew he was going to wait for her as long as it was going to take, she was testing _herself_. She wanted to be completely, one-hundred-per-cent sure that this was what she really wanted, because she knew that once she had said the words, there was no coming back from them. Klaus was forever.

"Wait!" Caroline's voice stopped the hybrid just as he was about to open the door and walk out of the room. "Would you maybe want to accompany me to prom?" She mumbled out, her cheeks bright red. Baby steps, right?

Klaus' smile, all dimples and hope and genuine happiness, everything the smile of someone who had turned, tortured, killed hundreds of people shouldn't be, lightened up the whole room then, making Caroline feel like the most beautiful and special woman ever walking on Earth. "It would be my pleasure, love."

Caroline blushed even harder, biting down on her bottom lip and nodding at the hybrid. Only a month ago, the intense look in his eyes would have made her feel terribly uncomfortable, but now it gave her an odd sense of reassurance and it sent shivers down her spine in the most delicious of ways.

Klaus turned again to leave the room, he opened the door but then stilled just outside in the hallway. "By the way, love," he smirked one of his panty-dropping crooked smiles. "Rebekah is right, the cream dress is definitely my favorite." And with a wink, he finally left a very dumbfounded and blushing Caroline recollecting her thoughts in his sister's room.


	3. All Worth It

**This supposedly takes place between 4x18 and 4x19. Kol is alive because I love him and I say so. I warn you, I think the verbs' tenses are probably a bit off, but English isn't my first language and I didn't feel like re-reading this too many times, so I apologize in advance.**

**Enjoy!**

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"We're leaving!" Klaus roared from the entry of the Mikaelson household, slamming the front door shut so angrily that the loud noise echoed throughout the whole mansion, making its three other inhabitants cringe – this wasn't good. "_Now_!"

The hybrid zoomed up the stairs and then down again into the spacious kitchen were his siblings were lounging, a suitcase already in his hand. Saying he looked furious was probably the understatement of the century.

Kol smirked, setting the scotch he was nursing down on the marble countertop. "What's gotten your panties in such a twist, dear brother?"

"Nothing," he replied curtly. "Just mind your own business and pack your bags."

Rebekah rolled her eyes, checking her manicure boringly. "I bet it's because of that infatuation of his. With that commoner, the friend of the doppelganger, what's her name again?"

"_Oh_," Kol's smirk grew even wider. "_Sweet Caroline_."

Elijah's interest picked up then, and he looked up from the newspaper he was attentively reading. "Miss Forbes?" Rebekah nodded her head at him, disgust evident on her face – what could his brother ever see in such a poorly mannered, young vampire? "I wasn't aware you had taken a liking to her, Niklaus."

The blonde vampire rolled her eyes again, hopping off the counter and sighing. "Must you always talk like we're still in the eighteenth century, Elijah?"

The older Mikaelson sibling didn't acknowledge his sister's question, instead looking pointedly at Klaus, waiting for an answer.

"I don't _like_ anyone, Elijah. You all drop it and pack your fucking bags or I'll leave you here!" the hybrid raged, the last thing he needed today was to have and put up with his siblings' prying questions.

"I'm not leaving because you got rejected by that stupid excuse of a vampire again, Nik!" Rebekah whined.

Klaus glared at her warningly, a flicker of yellow evident in his angry eyes. "Talk about her with more respect, Rebekah."

The original blonde vampire just glared back, fuming, while Kol snickered, obviously amused at the exchange. "And you say you don't like her, brother?"

Klaus decided to ignore his younger sibling's comment, knowing full well there was no point in denying the truth. "I'm leaving in an hour, with or without you fools." He then left the room.

The three remaining siblings stayed quiet for a few moments, until they could eventually hear the door of Klaus' studio closing behind him with a resounding clatter.

"He's in the studio, so he's brooding," Rebekah pointed out. "What do you think happened?"

Kol simply shrugged. Who knew.

_(Earlier, that day.) _He was weak, wasn't he? Yes he was, and terribly so, all because of a certain blonde vampire he couldn't shake out of his mind no matter how much he tried.

Not that he really wanted to, mind him. He hadn't felt this alive since–since... well, since _ever_. And therefore, he didn't really care if it made him a little weak, he just couldn't bring himself to stop thinking of her, looking out for her, caring for her, _loving_ her.

It was a feeling he wasn't used to, caring for someone other than himself or his family. It made him do strange things, unselfish things, like calling Tyler Lockwood back in town no matter the fact that the young hybrid had tried to kill him, several times. No matter the fact that he knew he didn't stand a chance in hell with Caroline if Tyler was in her life.

Still, he did it. Because that was what she wanted, what she had asked from him, because it was the only thing he could do at the moment to make her happy. And damn him, if he wouldn't do anything in his power to put even the tiniest of smiles on those perfect, rosy lips he so desperately wished to kiss.

Klaus sighed, hands clasped behind his back as he made his way towards Caroline's house. He had called Tyler the morning before, and heard from the few hybrids he had managed to keep under his control that he had been in town since later in the afternoon. Surely, their reunion, something the mere thought of made his dead heart clench in pain, had been and gone. And now it was late enough the day after to not catch him sneaking out of her house after their night together. It was safe to stop by. She owed him at least a thank you, after all, didn't she?

Apparently, he couldn't have been more wrong.

He rounded the street to Caroline's house and there they were, lovingly kissing on her front porch.

The hurt and pain he felt in that moment was incomparable to any other he had ever felt in his long and immortal existence. It was worse than the pain Silas had put him through, worse than having a thousand daggers piercing through his heart. It was unbearable, blinding, and merciless. No matter how fast he ran away from the scene, not caring about the human eyes around him, the image of Caroline, the only girl he had ever truly loved, embracing and kissing someone who wasn't him followed. And so did the pain that came with it.

Of course he knew they were together, _that_ together – they had been since he had first come to town – but he had never actually seen it first hand, he had never seen them so intimate, he had never seen them kissing. And all those times he had shuddered catching himself thinking of it, acknowledging it in his head, paled in comparison to the heartache of seeing it happen before his very own eyes. It was agony. A torment he was sure he would always carry with him for the rest of his eternal life.

He had to leave, to flee, to escape this stupid town, hoping to forsake the memories and hopes of her together with it.

After all, he was the big, bad hybrid, the most powerful being on Earth, wasn't he supposed to be able to achieve anything he wanted? Surely, it was that way. This hurt, this _pain_, it was only temporary. Given some time – a very little time, he was sure of it – he would forget all about her and laugh about how foolish he had been believing it to be love. To be love, this–this–this _choking_, this inability to breathe, to speak, to think clearly or he would just give up, he would cry, because that was how much it hurt. And he couldn't cry, he wouldn't let himself cry. There was a limit to everything, and that was his. He _would not_ cry.

_(Present time.)_ Klaus was maniacally moving around his studio, tearing up drawings, shredding canvas, smashing and destroying everything he could put his hands on. He threw that stupid canary yellow paint against the wall, he couldn't be reminded of her. Not now, not ever. How could a simple girl – no, _woman_ – affect him so much? Why did he let it happen, why did he let himself fall in love with her? He should have stopped it sooner, much sooner, he should have realized from the beginning that he stood no chance with her, he should have done so many things but she rendered him incapable of anything but caring for her, and he both hated it and loved it at the same time.

The fact that his siblings immediately understood the reason behind his temper tantrum, that they immediately connected it to _her_, only fueled his anger. Had he really become so predictable? Did she really make so little of him?

Hearing the doorbell ringing, he zoomed to the front door before any of his siblings could beat him to it, fully set on having some fun with whoever had dared come to his house. He itched to hurt and torture someone the same way she had hurt him. He needed to make things even somehow, he needed to prove to himself he wasn't weak. _He wasn't weak_.

He opened the door with so much strength he nearly tore it off its hinges, a terrifying snarl on his face.

Instead, his eyes widened when he saw Caroline in front of him.

"Hi," she greeted him tentatively, wary of the deadly look he was wearing.

"Caroline," he acknowledged her through gritted teeth. "What are you doing here?"

His cold demeanor startled her, and she immediately started to second guess herself. Maybe she shouldn't have come to his house. It was stupid, and careless, and risky, the exact opposite of what she was, of what she had always been. When had been the last time she had taken such a sudden and hazardous decision in her life?

"I wanted to thank you," she said sheepishly, looking everywhere but into his intense, blue-green eyes. When he only met her with silence, she clarified. "For letting Tyler come back."

"Sure." Klaus nodded his head curtly. "Is that all?"

Caroline glared at him, scoffing. "Seriously? Do you even listen to yourself?"

The hybrid glared back. "What ever do you mean, love?" _Damn_. He wasn't supposed to call her love, he was supposed to be mad at her. She was the cause of it all, for God's sake.

"_I mean_, I came here to _thank you_, and you give me the cold shoulder? Why do you have to be such an ass _every single freaking time_?" she lashed out at him, stressing every word she said. "It's like every time you do something remotely nice, you feel ashamed of it and need to compensate by being a total jerk. It's goddamn annoying!"

Klaus couldn't help the smirk that made its way to his lips. She was way too adorable when she was angry. "Now, now, love, don't make a scene."

Caroline's eyes widened. He was being a smart-ass, and she was downright outraged. "You've got to be kidding me! You're infuriating!"

"Well, then maybe you should go spend your time with your puppy boyfriend if you find being around me so insufferable." he snapped.

"Wha-urgh! Are you seriously playing the jealousy card on me? Because you have _no freaking right_ to be jealous, and do I have to remind you that you're the one who called him back in case you forgot!" she shouted.

"Well, yes, but I didn't expect to catch you two fucking kissing on your stupid door, love!" he shouted back even louder.

Caroline gasped, and Klaus swore under his breath. So _he was_ jealous.

"I–it was... it was nothing," she mumbled, looking down at her shoes.

Klaus sighed, his tone strained. "You don't have to explain anything to me, Caroline."

The vampire's head shot up and her eyes finally dared to meet his. Her breath caught at the intensity of feelings she saw swirling in them. "No, I know. I mean, _I know_." she laughed, awkwardly. "But it's really _not_ like that. When you saw us, that was actually the first time I was seeing him since he had come back yesterday. And yes, he kissed me, but I didn't kiss him back."

"Why?" he asked, his voice merely above a whisper. He couldn't dare to hope, he just–_he couldn't_. His heart couldn't possibly take more pain.

Caroline stayed silent for a couple of minutes, mustering up all of her courage. "I–when I saw him, I knew it was you. He would have never dared coming back if you hadn't told him it was okay to. And in that moment, I didn't care that Tyler was back anymore, I just wanted to come to you and thank you for it, for giving me a choice. I just–I guess that's all I wanted."

"What kind of choice?" he pressed, he so desperately needed to know, needed to be sure.

"Between you and him," she breathed out, unconsciously moving closer to him, bringing her palm flat on his chest, where his heart used to beat. "And I choose _you_." She whispered, and as soon as the words had left her mouth, his lips were on hers.

They skipped slow, and sweet, and tentatively, they had danced around each other long enough already. Their mouths opened in unison, fusing as one, teeth clanking, tongues meeting and exploring one another. Klaus wrapped his left arm around her, possessively bringing her the closer he could to him, while his free hand went to her hair, tugging her head to the side to deepen the kiss even more. Caroline's hands were now both pulling at his shirt, trying to bring him closer, needing to feel him all around her, his touch, his smell, his taste. Why had she waited so long to give in to him? She had known all along it was only a matter of time, she was meant to do this. She was meant to be with_ him_.

The fact that neither of them actually needed to breathe was coming very much in handy, because they weren't ready to let go of the other just yet. No matter the fact that they knew it wouldn't have been for long. There was no doubt in their minds now that they were each other's. _Forever_.

Eventually, Caroline was the first one to break away, but not distancing herself from him more than a inch. They looked intensely in each other's eyes, panting. Klaus delicately caressed down Caroline's cheek, bringing his hand around her neck. He still couldn't believe that this was real, that it was really happening, that she was really there, willingly, with him, holding on to him, kissing him like her life depended on it.

"I'm sorry I hurt you," she murmured softly, drawing patterns on his sculptured chest.

Klaus shook his head lightly, smiling softly, in that way he reserved for her and her only. "Nonsense. None of it matters now that I have you. It was all worth it." And it was, damn it if it was. He would do it all over again a million times if it meant he got to have her like this, to hold her, to kiss her, to call her his.

He sighed, letting his forehead rest against hers as Caroline smiled up at him brightly. It had been far too long since she had smiled this genuinely, since she had felt this happy, because _this_, being like this with him, it felt so natural, and so, _so right_.

She raised on her tiptoes and met his lips with hers once, twice, again and again until they were lost into one another, whimpering into each other's mouth and holding on to each other with no intention of ever letting go.

"Does this mean I don't have to pack anymore?"

Klaus sighed against Caroline's lips, annoyed, withdrawing only a little. "Dammit Kol!"

* * *

**Yeyyyyy! You've got your kiss! I really hope you liked this and that I didn't disappoint! Drop me a review?**


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